My First Deck - EDH Animar

[The Binary Son]

GOALS FOR THIS DECK:  Stay at or below the current deck price per TCG, but can play with friends and at least be competitive if not win a game every now and then, be able to learn how to play without confusing myself too much.

DECK STRATEGY - make Animar beefy, as well as have a bunch of creatures that are either beefy or can do cool things themselves, while having cards that provide protection or counter for different things so I have a solution to many if not most problems in my deck somewhere.  I made this deck after consulting friends who play.  I'm still consulting them, this is not a finished product.

QUESTIONS:

1.)  CREATURES:  I've been told I need more big beefy bois in my deck.  I tried to find some and add them to my deck as well as my maybe board.  Which creatures should I add from my maybe board, which should I take out from my main deck, and which should I add that I don't have listed anywhere (but keeps me at the same budget limit, in which case what do I sub out)?

2.)  LANDS:  Keeping my budget in mind, what changes would you recommend I make to my deck?

3.)  SPELLS:  I was told to have a round 6 of each category of spell, and as you can see I went over in a few places, under in others.  Similar to lands, keeping my budget in mind, what changes would you recommend I make to my deck?

4.)  WEAKNESSES:  I'm new to the game.  I've played a few games with other people's decks, but still - what weaknesses does my deck face that I should be aware of?  Anything I should do to prepare for said weaknesses that I'm not already doing?

5.)  OTHER:  Any other suggestions are welcome!

https://deckstats.net/decks/185658/2153158-animar-v7

[WWolfe]

I have an Animar deck (two actually) under my saved decks though they may be a little complicated for what you're saying you're looking for. A few things I noticed with a quick glance....

You have a lot of artifact ramp, in a deck like Animar you want your ramp to be creature based. Stuff like Birds of Paradise (though maybe a little pricey from what you're saying about your budget), Llanowar Elves, Elvish Mystic, etc., would be better. Also, you're in green. Green has the best ramp in the game and you can lean heavily into that and not worry about artifacts. Stuff like Rampant Growth that put additional lands into play is always good.

Land wise, there's some budget options that are dual color that would help you some though they come in tapped and may slow you down some.  Here's a pretty good guide to lands by effectiveness and budget by one of our members. https://deckstats.net/forum/index.php/topic,55691.0.html

One thing I saw you mention I don't quite understand...

3.)  SPELLS:  I was told to have a round 6 of each category of spell, and as you can see I went over in a few places, under in others.  Similar to lands, keeping my budget in mind, what changes would you recommend I make to my deck?

Not sure who told you this but they're a little off with saying this. What really matters is what the spells do, not what type they are. You want them to synergize with your deck and benefit your strategy while helping you guide your deck through your meta. For instance, in an Animar deck whose goal is to flood the board with creatures, you don't want many creature board wipes but you do want targeted removal. Even better if that removal is on a creature (Bane of Progress for instance).

To give an idea of what I mean, most of my decks include the following:

10 sources of ramp be it on a creature, a spell that puts extra lands on the board, or artifacts (though I'm against artifact ramp in an Animar deck)
10 sources of card draw- again be it on a creature or spell
6-8 targeted removal items- again be it on a creature (Acidic Slime) or a spell (Naturalize)
2-3 board wipes- not just creature board wipes but wipes that will clear out artifacts and/or enchantments as well.

Anyway, hope this helps. I know I didn't speak much to individual card choices and I'll try to come back and hit on that, but hopefully I provided some insight on how to overall shape the deck to be more effective.

[The Binary Son]

I have an Animar deck (two actually) under my saved decks though they may be a little complicated for what you're saying you're looking for. A few things I noticed with a quick glance....

You have a lot of artifact ramp, in a deck like Animar you want your ramp to be creature based. Stuff like Birds of Paradise (though maybe a little pricey from what you're saying about your budget), Llanowar Elves, Elvish Mystic, etc., would be better. Also, you're in green. Green has the best ramp in the game and you can lean heavily into that and not worry about artifacts. Stuff like Rampant Growth that put additional lands into play is always good.

Land wise, there's some budget options that are dual color that would help you some though they come in tapped and may slow you down some.  Here's a pretty good guide to lands by effectiveness and budget by one of our members. https://deckstats.net/forum/index.php/topic,55691.0.html

One thing I saw you mention I don't quite understand...

3.)  SPELLS:  I was told to have a round 6 of each category of spell, and as you can see I went over in a few places, under in others.  Similar to lands, keeping my budget in mind, what changes would you recommend I make to my deck?

Not sure who told you this but they're a little off with saying this. What really matters is what the spells do, not what type they are. You want them to synergize with your deck and benefit your strategy while helping you guide your deck through your meta. For instance, in an Animar deck whose goal is to flood the board with creatures, you don't want many creature board wipes but you do want targeted removal. Even better if that removal is on a creature (Bane of Progress for instance).

To give an idea of what I mean, most of my decks include the following:

10 sources of ramp be it on a creature, a spell that puts extra lands on the board, or artifacts (though I'm against artifact ramp in an Animar deck)
10 sources of card draw- again be it on a creature or spell
6-8 targeted removal items- again be it on a creature (Acidic Slime) or a spell (Naturalize)
2-3 board wipes- not just creature board wipes but wipes that will clear out artifacts and/or enchantments as well.

Anyway, hope this helps. I know I didn't speak much to individual card choices and I'll try to come back and hit on that, but hopefully I provided some insight on how to overall shape the deck to be more effective.

Thanks SO MUCH!!!  I made the changes you suggested, and with enough effort and as long as I'm cool buying heavily used or damaged or non-english cards, I should get the deck within my budget.

If you see any particular cards you would recommend I keep or get rid of let me know, but if you could I'd really appreciate more examples of the "targeted removal" and "board wipe" cards you mention.  I think those are my remaining weak spots.

[WWolfe]

Glad to have helped!

Targeted removal are cards that specifically hit one target whether it's an enchantment, creature, land, or whatever. Things like Acidic Slime, Reclamation Sage, and Naturalize are targeted removal. Naturally in an Animar deck, the creature based ones like Acidic Slime is a better choice.

Board wipes are things that hit the entire board whether it be all creatures, all enchantments, all artifacts, or some/all of the above. Bane of Progress is the most commonly used like this in an Animar deck. Non-creature wise you have options like Cyclonic Rift overloaded though that card alone would blow your entire budget. However there are budget options like Wash Out and River's Rebuke that are more budget friendly.

One other neat little bit of tech I used in my creature heavy decks are counter magic on bodies. Frilled Mystic and Mystic Snake have flash and counter spells upon entering the battlefield though in an Animar deck they don't receive a discount and can be a little clunky to keep the mana for open. Another option would be Glen Elendra Archmage where you would get the discount from Animar from casting but then sits there on the battlefield until it's used, and with the persist trigger you usually get two uses out of it. One negative on Glen Elendra is it only hits noncreature spells but to be honest, in an Animar deck most of the time you're looking to prevent board wipes (like the aforementioned Cyclonic Rift).